Margaret has been nursing for the past 40 years, specialising in palliative care. She became involved whilst working for the Blue Nursing Service in 1979 and presented her first paper at a national conference in Melbourne in 1984.

Since then she has had the opportunity to present papers at international (Cancer Nursing Conference in London) and national conferences. Margaret held a position as guest lecturer at the University of Queensland, involved in the education of 1st year medical students.

Margaret along with a team has instigated four models for palliative care: including ward 4B in The Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane, Karuna Hospice Service in Brisbane along with a Buddhist monk Pende Hawter.

Margaret was the coordinator of Palliative Care Services for the Sunshine Coast District Health Service for four years.

• 2001 - Awarded a Fisher Community Australia Day award.
• 2001 - Received a Commonwealth Recognition Award for Senior Australians
• 2002 - Bloomhill Cancer Help was awarded the Inaugural Des Scanlan Memorial Award for the most outstanding community organisation.
• 2003 - Awarded a Centenary of Federation Medal for her service to health.
• 2004 - Awarded an Honorary Senior Fellowship from the University of The Sunshine Coast.
• 2004 - Awarded a Queensland Regional Achievers Award.

Brett Graham is the director of Ray White Maroochydore, Ray White Buderim and Ray White Coolum. Within these businesses he also operates a commercial division, two finance businesses as well as one of the largest Property Management divisions on the Sunshine Coast managing over a 1,000 properties with an assets value close on $400 million.

Brett employs over 100 employees and as a major business on the Sunshine Coast, he and his staff have welcomed the chance to assist Bloomhill not only as a business sponsor but also by adding business expertise where possible into the structure of Bloomhill.

Jan is a registered general and mental health nurse, with a background in nurse education spanning the last 30 years. Her tertiary qualifications are in education and social sciences. She has held numerous clinical nursing positions during and prior to her career as an educator, thus enabling her knowledge to remain current.

Jan is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Nursing and a former Program Leader of undergraduate nursing at the University of the Sunshine Coast. In her role, she was responsible for maintaining the program for about 500 students. Her particular lecturing interest are in mental health nursing, and in the area of palliative, continuing and rehabilitative care.

Jan moved (retired!) to the Sunshine Coast from Bathurst NSW in 2004 where she had been Head of the School of Nursing and Health Science at Charles Sturt University, and has been involved with Bloomhill in the role of volunteer since 2005. In 2005 and 2006 she undertook work in respite care, as a buddy and a driver. She's also given lectures in the workshops for volunteers working with clients of Bloomhill.

Now that Jan has retired, she has more time to be involved with Bloomhill, and is pleased to be a member of the Management Committee, with a particular perspective on the Care and Volunteer functions of the organisation. She works closely with Anna Braaten-Pow, Manager of Care and Alex Bert, Manager Volunteer Services and enjoys the professional interactions.

Jan's previous volunteering has been with Rotary in Bathurst, including a year as President of the Bathurst Macquarie Rotary Club, and as an active member of various professional committees in mental health nursing.

Frank Gerhard was born in New Zealand and was educated in Christchurch. After graduating from Canterbury University he served in the Royal New Zealand Navy as an Instructor Officer before joining Shell in 1957.

Following an assignment in London he returned to New Zealand to take up a senior position.

In 1970 Frank was transferred to Shell International based in London before taking up a position as a Director of Shell Nigeria in 1972.

In 1975 he joined a UK- based company as Far East Director and spent three years working from the Philippines. In 1979 he moved to Singapore to set up his own company.

In 1991 Frank and his wife, Jeannette, retired to Portugal before settling on the Sunshine Coast in 2005.

Having himself survived a major cancer operation Frank is a keen supporter of Bloomhill. As well as overseeing its financial affairs he is also active in Rotary.

Jenny grew up in Bundaberg before moving to Brisbane to complete a Diploma of Teaching (Home Economics) at kelvin Grove Teachers College.

On taking up a posting she met husband Bill and they have now been married for 38 years with two children.

Jenny also held a variety of committee positions in the kindergarten and schools that the children attended, while continuing part time teaching.

On returning to Brisbane in 1987 and purchasing a restaurant, a whole new world of staff and customer management, conflict resolution, team building, cost controlling and marketing had to be conquered. It was time to move on after 3 years in the hospitality industry, so Jenny took up a position as a Workforce Training and Development Consultant with the Queensland Government.

Retirement in 2001 allowed a new focus on, and more time spent with her first grandson Oliver who has since been joined by grandsons Samuel and Nicholas.

Jenny and Bill moved to Buderim in 2004 where as a matter of interest they spent their honeymoon in 1969!

Paul's involvement with Bloomhill started when he volunteered to work in the Buderim Op Shop in 2002. He was elected as secretary in 2005 and has continued in that role to the present day.

He and his wife Janice retired to the Sunshine Coast in 1999 after nearly 40 years in the education field. After 17 years teaching and lecturing in New Zealand he migrated with his wife and 3 children to lecture in Australia.

He retired from Charles Sturt University in 1998 and worked as an education consultant in mathematics and student welfare services at tertiary level for AusAID in Solomon Islands and Fiji until 2006.

For 7 years he was also a visiting Consultant for remote Aboriginal community schools in the Kimberley region. His wife Janice plays in local orchestras and has continued to teach violin.

Currently, Paul is still a volunteer in the Buderim Op Shop. He is also a volunteer teacher and tutor trainer for Solutions Adult Learning Centre, a non for profit volunteer community organisation, which provides literacy and numeracy tutoring to adults.

My wife Sue and I have two children, Sarah (28), Owen (26), also living in Queensland. We moved to the Sunshine Coast in 2004 to be close to Sue’s mum. Buderim is now our home and we love living here with its great sense of community, friendly neighbours and climate.

I had a twenty seven year career with an airline in Customer Service and Airport Management, based in Sydney and Adelaide. Sue and I went into our own Accommodation Business in Adelaide and then again at Alexandra Headland on the glorious Sunshine Coast.

It is great to be involved with Bloomhill through the staff, clients and volunteers. Margaret Gargan did a wonderful job in setting up Bloomhill with the idea of supporting people on the Sunshine Coast with cancer and it is a privilege to assist in a small way.

Golf is an interest that I have enjoyed lately and try and play a few days a week. Sue and I enjoy watching our son play AFL footy with the Maroochydore Roos during the winter months and we continue to follow our AFL team Adelaide Crows. Our daily exercise consists of walking our spoilt dog Byron.

Alexsandra Bert is the Volunteer Coordinator at Bloomhill Cancer Help, who has extensive experience in hospital and community environments. Her initial contact with Bloomhill Cancer Help Centre commenced over two years ago through her connection with Blue Care. Alexsandra works 4 days and manages the coordination, recruiting, training and supervision of volunteers who support the clients, family and friends of Bloomhill Cancer Help.

With an extensive background in social work, Alexsandra has worked with volunteers for a number of years in her professional career; both in Australia and overseas. She maintains volunteering is an extremely rewarding and enriching experience and people involved gain many benefits for their efforts.

Volunteering is a gratifying, life changing and inspiring experience; if you’d like to know more about the opportunities available, please phone Alexsandra at Bloomhill Cancer Help, as she would love to hear from anyone with an interest in volunteering.

My name is Anne (pronounced Ana) and I am the Manager of Care at Bloomhill. This means I coordinate the care that we provide for our clients. I am a registered Nurse and have extensive experience from cancer nursing - both in Norway and Australia.

Together with the other RN’s; Kamura, Janine, Diane and Rhonda I do the initial assessments with our clients when they first come to Bloomhill. We chat about their situation, looking at in what way we can support them and make a plan. We will refer the right therapies/services that are needed and continue to coordinate their care.

I also facilitate the support group meetings, with assistance from a registered Nurse or our Counsellor.

I have worked at Bloomhill for 3 years and thoroughly enjoy it. I love being part of a highly professional team, together we are able to make a big difference in people’s life when going through their cancer journey.

Beth has been with Bloomhill since 2002 and is the Office Manager.

Not having been on the Coast for long she decided to do some volunteer work and heard about Bloomhill through Volunteering Queensland and found out about the work they do. This struck a cord with her as she had lost several family members to cancer so arranged a meeting with the Volunteer Coordinator.

She started as a volunteer in the office two days a week and quickly became a member of staff as Bloomhill grew and the office became busier and was employed as the Administration Assistant to the Office Manager. After twelve months the postion of Office Manager became vacant and she was promoted to her current position.

Beth is responsible for the supervision of the Administration side of Bloomhill, which includes the accounts department, reception, therapy appointments, fundraising events, IT and all other general administration functions.

Working at Bloomhill is like no other job she has ever experienced, joining the clients on their journey with cancer and the challenges they face, many with positive outcomes. She finds her work very rewarding and enjoys being part of the professional team at Bloomhill.

My name is Gail Lamb, my position at Bloomhill is Administration Assistant.

After moving from Melbourne to the Sunshine Coast, I was drawn to Bloomhill just over 8 years ago. Whenever I was driving down Ballinger road, past the Bloomhill sign, I was curious to find out - What was going on down the driveway and Where does it lead too? I was fortunate enough to find out through a friend; who was a volunteer and enlightened me to the wonderful happenings at Bloomhill.

Having had many years experience as a Personal Assistant in the Melbourne Corporate world, followed by a career in advertising promoting and selling advertising space in a popular business magazine, I was ready to take on a new challenge and Bloomhill called.

I knew from the very first day I arrived at Bloomhill that I wanted to stay. I commenced by volunteering one day a week in Administration, a vacancy came available I applied for the position and was overjoyed to secure a place in this peaceful haven. Working in an environment with professional staff, who genuinely care and support each other.

My position is full time, covering a multitude of diverse administration duties; including meeting and greeting clients, communicating with sponsors, fundraising events, raising funds that are needed to carry on the wonderful work here at Bloomhill. We endeavour to create a relaxed and caring, Special Place.

Bloomhill is staffed by a professional friendly team, caring for people diagnosed with cancer, their families, carers and friends.

Counselling

Children and adults

. One on one

. Relationships

. Creative Arts Therapy

. Play Therapy

. Sand play

FACILITATION

Groups

Corporate and community Workshops

Juliette will design and facilitate experiential workshops that rely on collaborative and creative processes, to suit the needs of your organization and your employees:

Vision and goals exploration

Team building

Self care for support workers

Work related issues

Exploration of themes

Juliette Kalifa has a Masters in Creative Arts Therapy and has run a counselling private practice for over 10 years.

She teaches and supervises Post Graduate students for The Melbourne Institute of Experiential and Creative Arts Therapy, and offers session work in diverse organizations.

I was born in Laidley Queensland, grew up and was educated in Gympie. My general nursing certificate was also obtained at Gympie Hospital, my maternity certificate in Melbourne and I spent 15 years in Perth after doing an Intensive care Certificate at the Royal Perth Hospital. I worked in Silver Chain doing Cancer Nursing and Palliative Care.

After caring for my Mother who passed away from Malignant Melanoma and my sister falling ill and sadly dying, I returned to the Sunshine Coast in 1993.

I worked with Blue Care for 13 years and helped to set up the Palliative Care Team which provided a quality of care to our clients in partnership with Bloomhill, of which I will always be proud. It was my special privilege to work with the compassionate, professional nurses on that team.

I have now been especially blessed given the opportunity to work as a permanent staff member of the Bloomhill Family where love and support abounds and the term "holistic" is truly applied in a very real and special way.

Hi my name is Sharon and I am one of the Remedial Massage Therapist’s you will meet at Bloomhill. I have been massaging here for almost 3 years every Wednesday, my qualifications include a Diploma in Remedial Massage therapies, Swedish Relaxation, Deep Tissue, Reflexology, Aromatherapy, Manual Lymphatic Drainage – Vodder technique, Massage for Lymphedema and a Blue Card to work with children.

Should you choose to come to Bloomhill you will immediately feel at home – it’s a very special place you can be sure to get the care and support you need, not only for yourself but also for your loved ones. I look forward to meeting you.

My name is Stephen Quinlan and I came to counselling at Bloomhill with a diverse professional background having had more than 30 years working in law, academia, management and social sciences. I hold clinical membership with Queensland Counsellors Association and am registered (No: 21477) with the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia.

While still practising as a solicitor, I first trained as a volunteer crisis counsellor with Lifeline in 1995. Then I undertook post graduate Masters level study in counselling, retiring from my legal practice in 2002 to work in the community sector in relationship counselling, post-separation family dispute resolution and employee assistance counselling. This has led to my current work with Bloomhill clients.

Counselling at Bloomhill provides many professional challenges and engaging in therapeutic work with clients and their families at the many different stages of their cancer journeys is very rewarding and stimulating. I approach this work from a humanist and existential perspective.

I have a deep belief in the ability of all individuals to make wise, effective choices about how to best live a meaningful. purposeful and productive life and I am strongly committed to assisting clients to achieve this, whatever their age, health or stage of life might be.

Away from Bloomhill I enjoy: time with my wife and our families; music, especially classical; reading and being in a book club (for over 20 years); gardening and growing things; and pursuing my private practice as clinical supervisor to other professionals and practitioners.

Hello my name is Tania Harrold and I am very passionate about bringing healing and wellbeing to the human body. My interest in Natural Therapies began several years ago when I became aware of the powerful effect of my untrained massage on family and friends.

So it began... my exploration into the amazing world of healing, tactile therapies.

I work intuitively; fully supported by the knowledge I've gained from intensive training in both Remedial and Cancer Massage techniques. The Massage, Cancer and More Therapist training I received at Petrea King's Quest For Life Centre in NSW is an invaluable 'tool' in my 'tool box'. Reiki also plays an important part by bringing deep relaxation and peace to the massage experience.

My belief is that our bodies are whole when we have equilibrium between our emotional and physical states and I strive to ensure you feel that balance within at the end of your treatment. I would love the opportunity to discuss further the treatments available as they can be designed to meet any specific therapeutic needs.

I look forward to meeting you ....... Tania